What if we all envisioned a socialist future?
Drawing inspiration from Cubans about community, art, family and life
This blog is part of the Reimagining Economics Possibilities series. This series accompanies the Neighbourhood Doughnut portfolio of work in which CIVIC SQUARE, along with many neighbours, researchers, partners and visionaries have since 2019 been exploring large and small scale ways to reimagine economic possibilities.
The series brings together 15 commissioned works by visionaries who are reimagining economic possibility from a number of different angles. We are deeply passionate about Doughnut Economics and recognise the wealth of possibilities it unlocks, as well as its limitations. As Kate Raworth has said, quoting British statistician George E. P. Box, “all frameworks are wrong, but some are useful.” Therefore, we want to be able to stretch as far and wide as the Doughnut Economics Action Lab invites us to, seeing it as a platform to organise, whilst also encompassing a plurality of bold visions.
In this piece SHAM MURAD explains how a long-planned visit to Cuba dared her to reimagine a socialist future in which everyone can have what they need, and in which love and humanity are at society’s core. Despite arriving in Cuba ready to be sceptical about the country’s socialist society, the visit affirmed her belief that an alternative to capitalism is within our reach.
Sham Murad is a Baghdad-born Masters in Law graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Development. She is the co-founder of A is for Activism, a community hub for political education, class consciousness, mutual aid, survival and solidarity.
“Cuba teaches us the biggest lesson we can learn; when a true people’s revolution wins, you see how love and humanity is at the centre of what they do.”
The past few years have seen a big shift in people’s thinking and desire for a radical future.
Through protests and riots, comrades across the Global South and all over the world have stood up, destroyed government property, turned up in their millions to elect socialist candidates and challenged the orthodoxies of austerity and capitalism.
In the past few months, Chile has elected a socialist leader, Sri Lankans have stormed parliament palace, Cuba has passed the most progressive family law in modern history and millions of Brazilians have voted for the left wing socialist Lula. At the time of writing, Lula has won the first round of Brazil’s presidential election, with six million more votes than Bolsanaro.
Decades of neoliberalism has proven that it does not have the answers to the ills of the world, but instead has contributed to them. Despite having enough sustenance in the world to feed everyone, over three billion people struggle to eat. Despite having enough wealth so that everyone has the ability to live in dignity, billions live below the poverty line whilst a select few hoard hundreds of billions of pounds. People are no longer pacified by the idea that we have no other option. The current economic model is failing and the only answer is socialism.
I was first approached with this commission on a trip to Cuba. This is a trip that I have dreamt about for the best part of two decades — a political and revolutionary pilgrimage, if you will. Before anything, I am a Marxist-Leninist so, of course, I have admired and been fascinated by Cuba for years. I have read countless books about the revolution, the triumph of Fidel Castro’s Sierra Maestra, their defeat of the corrupt Batista dictatorship, Castro defying the US and implementing a socialist state. Despite the US attempting to overthrow Castro’s government several times, Cuba remained steadfast and the people’s revolution continued to win. After years of reading and organising, the most natural response was an urgent desire to visit.
“I can already imagine the backlash this commission will receive from neoliberals and gusanos who imagine Cuba to be the bottom of the pyramid and one of the worst countries in the ‘third world’.”
On my first few days in Cuba, I kept hold of a level of scepticism and caution. I stand as a proud Marxist-Leninist, but I did not want my opinions to be shrouded by political bias and myopia. I told myself, if the socialist mission failed in Cuba, how do we ensure that we learn from its lessons? But instead, Cuba taught me just how possible another future is.
A few days after arriving on September 7th, I was approached by the CIVIC SQUARE team to write this commission. I logged onto the public WiFi with my internet card, for which I had paid 125 Cuban Pesos (under £1), and read the email. It spoke of a collection of essays that explore bold visions for radical economic futures. It was a no brainer, I had to write about Cuba’s economic model and I had to write about what I was able to witness for myself and the futures of which it made me dare to dream. Up until my visit, a different economic model was always a vision for me, but I had to share the truth with the world about just how possible it is.
I can already imagine the backlash this commission will receive from neoliberals and gusanos who imagine Cuba to be the bottom of the pyramid and one of the worst countries in the ‘third world’. And it’s not to say that Cuba is without ‘issues’. There are of course problems that the Cuban people face, but this is not a result of the socialist model, but instead of nearly five decades of an economic embargo with which the US has terrorised the Cuban people.
Donald Trump’s presidency had a number of harmful policies that affected people domestically and internationally: the rise of racial bigotry, recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, more tax evasions for the wealthy and of course further tightening the economic sanctions on the Cuban people. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Cubans had already begun to feel the pinch in the economy due to the further sanctions. But once the government had to pour funds into handling the pandemic and create their own vaccines due to the economic embargo, it created a tighter crunch on the Cuban economy which the people felt. Every struggle the Cuban people face can be alleviated if the US embargo is lifted.
However despite the monumental hardship and adversity that the Cuban people face, Cuba teaches us the biggest lesson we can learn; when a true people’s revolution wins, you see how love and humanity is at the centre of what they do. Whilst countries refused to help Cuba with Covid-19, they created their own vaccine. Cuba has been a marvel of the medical world for the past few decades, creating cures for mother-to-foetus HIV transfer, and sending doctors across the world any time a medical crisis happens.
“The very first thing I noticed was the incredible art located in every corner… when a population has the opportunity to explore the arts, instead of funding cuts like we have in the UK, it returns dignity to the people.”
But these were just things I had read about. I wondered what socialism looked like in the flesh. I went with an open mind. If I was wrong, I was happy to learn lessons from what it could teach me, but I had never been more right about anything in my life.
I stayed in Old Havana for the first part of my trip. The imperialist media has historically represented it as a place of poverty and destitution. The streets were filled with fruit vendors and workers, bars which sold Cuban rum, paint peeling from the buildings, but the destitution we are told to expect does not exist. The very first thing I noticed was the incredible art located in every corner. Art studios, located inside structures over 100 years old, are everywhere you look, filled not only with art but also dance lessons, poetry performances and vibrancy. It made me think of art in the UK and how it is almost impossible to access or take part in unless you are part of the elite. But that was not the case in Cuba. One thing became very clear, when capitalism is not there to stifle your creativity, there is an opportunity for everyone to become an artist.
When a population has the opportunity to explore the arts, instead of funding cuts like we have in the UK, it returns dignity to the people. It is Fidel Castro himself who said: “Without culture, freedom is impossible”. Castro reaffirmed consistently that artistic practice has to return to the people as part of its advance to human dignity. The Cuban National Ballet School struggled financially until the Cuban revolution decided all forms of art had to be made available and free to all people.
Whilst I was in Cuba, I was able to witness the monumental passing of Cuba’s Codigo de las Familias (Family Code) and the lobbying and campaigning that went into it. I was first informed about the code by a comrade I met in Cuba called Ivan, who worked for the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, whose international mission for decades has been to build solidarity with the island. Over some Cuban rum and dancing, Ivan informed me about the Family Code. At the time I thought it was just a pipe dream. The code guarantees the right of people to form a family without discrimination, legalising same sex marriage and allowing all people to adopt children, banning surrogacy for profit, and allowing parental rights to be extended to even non-traditional family structures. This essentially boosts women’s rights as it promotes equal sharing of domestic responsibilities and also extends labour rights to those who care full time. It also codifies domestic violence penalties, and suggests parents should grant offspring more of a voice over their lives. This boosts love, affection and responsibility.
“This code essentially rids us of the idea of the ‘nuclear family’ as the archetype but tells us that family can mean a whole other thing. Dreaming and envisioning a whole new world is possible.”
The Family Code contains over 400 articles. More than 6,470,000 people discussed and had an input into the code through a consultative process which included over 79,000 meetings, to ensure Cubans’ most pressing needs were met. The Family Code was ratified by the population on the 26th of September with an overwhelming 66% ‘yes’ vote in the referendum.
This is a whole new way to dream. This code essentially rids us of the idea of the ‘nuclear family’ as the archetype but tells us that family can mean a whole other thing. Dreaming and envisioning a whole new world is possible. The code was written by the people and finalised by a democratic process that is unheard of in the West. It is a leap forward for the rights of queer, trans, women, and children that before we were only told we could imagine. Cuba has single handedly defined family as those who you love and protect.
Capitalism has shown us again and again what it fails to do. Capitalism has gutted our humanity and dignity and allowed the elite to make billions out of our exploitation. Fidel Castro said it best in his speech to the United Nations in 1979:
“There is often talk of human rights, but it is also necessary to speak of the rights of humanity. Why should some people walk around barefoot so that others can travel in luxurious automobiles? Why should some live for 35 years so that others can live for 70 years? Why should some be miserably poor so that others can be overly rich? I speak in the name of the children in the world who do not have a piece of bread. I speak in the name of the sick who do not have medicine. I speak on behalf of those whose right to life and human dignity has been denied”.
We live in a world that has more than an abundance to take care of all seven billion of us but only a handful are able to accumulate wealth that they could not spend in 100 lifetimes.
“No stomachs were empty, the people were literate, and the standard of happiness is one I have never before experienced.”
When I returned from Cuba, I was asked what I thought of the poverty in the nation. I responded that I did not see poverty. What I did bear witness to was not meeting a single homeless person, unlike in the UK, one of the richest countries in the world, in which there are a total of 270,000 people without fixed abodes. No stomachs were empty, the people were literate, and the standard of happiness is one I have never before experienced.
Capitalism is a disingenuous thing. It presents itself as an economic model in which you can dream and get the world’s riches. It tells you that with enough hard work you can work your way to the top. What we have witnessed instead is capitalism gutting us completely. At its core, it is taking people’s dignity away from them. Capitalism alienates us so much that it infringes on people’s rights, it attacks our ability to be creative, and to love. To truly envision a world where we can all be free, it must be rid of capitalism and think of an egalitarian socialist future.
Reimagining Economics Possibilities also builds upon CIVIC SQUARE’s Department of Dreams portfolio of work, a site to imagine bold new futures that weave together the dreams of many.
Whilst understanding, investing, and unpacking the dark matter of large scale system change, we have learned quite deeply through the practice, inspirational movements, and from imagineers and pioneers that came before us that we must also invest in the dream matter — the artists, writers, designers, dreamers and creative visionaries — those who dare to dream up bold new futures for humanity, and have the capacity to stretch our imaginations further than we ever thought possible.
Thinkers, doers and makers dreaming beyond our existing systems have played, are playing and will continue to play a central role in crafting collective visions that transcend our current reality, and radically illuminate the responsibilities we hold to future generations. This is particularly driven by practices of imagination and identity, and, when woven together with dark matter findings and interventions, has the power to create a supernovae of transformation; the thinking, relating and behaving differently required to usher in a new reality that becomes irresistible, that we can all build and craft together.
Find out more by exploring the following materials from Department of Dreams 2020–2021:
Initial Dept of Dreams Blog — May 2020
Watch Back Re_ Fest Talks — June 2020
Dream Library Launch — November 2021
The Matter of Dreams: 2020–2021 — December 2021
